Riverdale S3.08 — Kings & queens
Spoilers below for Riverdale S3.08 — Outbreak
This episode was honestly unbelievable, as in, this can no longer be believed.
All hail the new king. Hiram, the mob boss who is married to the mayor and murdered the sheriff, who is building a prison/drug lab and testing those drugs on minors who are in an asylum and also possibly on the town’s population, including his own daughter is, of course, also buds with the mysterious Gargoyle King.
Let’s back up. How did this happen?
After all of the Vixens (except Cheryl — why?) fall to the ground with seizures, Veronica realizes her parents are to blame…for everything. She’s basically right, but shows her hand way too soon. They attempt to send her to New York to get her out of their (something Season 1 Veronica would have loved) but she knows she can’t leave.
As a side note, I really hope they explain the seizures. Are they releasing something into the air or water? It can’t be from the fizzle rocks because Betty definitely had not had fizzle rocks before her first seizure. And I don’t think Veronica has had any either.
At school, which is apparently still happening, HAZMAT suited goonies arrive and grab all of the infected girls, except Veronica who runs away to her speakeasy and no one bothers to get her from there. She, her trusty steed Reggie, and Cheryl team up to fight back. After torturing Cheryl’s mom via syrup (which is definitely how the Blossoms tortured their enemies in the days of yore) for some valuable information, they gather the RROTC boys as backup and make their way to the mayor’s office.
But, they’re too late! Mayor Lodge has already “made the call,” which we soon find out means they declared the town an official quarantine zone, blocking it off from the rest of the world. Hiram really is in charge of everything.
Ok, let’s back up even more. What’s going on with Betty this whole time?
Because Betty is a badass who doesn’t let anything (including drugs) slow her down, she has been throwing up her fizzle rocks and messing her hair up to pretend that she is still high and under their spell. But really, she is the only one who knows that inside the GK’s lair, is actually just a little statue of a gargoyle. The drugs have been making them hallucinate the whole time!
She knows she needs to get Ethel on her side, so she convinces her that the Gargoyle King has been hitting on her and locks her in his lair/office until the drugs wear off. Ethel is obviously upset to realize she’s been praying to and chatting with a statue. They both agree that there is a real Gargoyle King roaming around the town, he’s just not spending his time hanging out with a bunch of sad girls.
Using a knife or possibly a letter opener (how did she get that?), Betty forces Sister Woodhouse into the Gargoyle King’s office. The sister explains that G&G was created at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy to help bad kids behave better and it spread like wildfire. The drugs help keep them in a fantasy world and Hiram is a gracious donor (probably both of money and of drugs). Has he been supplying drugs to the Sisters for longer than the rest of the town?
Ethel & Betty concoct a plan to get the rest of the girls, who are too deep into the world of G&G, to leave the Sisters. They dress Betty up as the Gryphon Queen and the girls depart on a quest to escape. But, that’s as far as their plan goes and they have no idea what to do now that everyone is outside. Luckily, Betty’s mom shows up…something tells me they’re all heading to the farm.
Alright, last time backing up. Where are Jughead & Archie?
They are in Toledo, where Jughead reunites with his cheeky little sister Jellybean (“it’s JB now!”) and his mom, Gladys, who is basically a cooler version of FP. By the way, how did they get to Ohio so easily/quickly? The Jones’ have a big autoshop, where they skim off the top by stealing stereos and hub caps. His mom provides work and a home for a lot of kids who would have been lost…except for Jug, of course.
After the pig roast, Archie wanders through the dark and is happened upon by a knife-wielding Penny Peabody. With a well placed rock from her slingshot, Jellybean knocks Penny out and they tie her up. Gladys tortures (and then kills?) her, after getting some info.
That info? Sure, Hiram hates Archie, but really what he was doing was getting Archie (and Jug) as far away as possible so they wouldn’t mess up his plans. And it worked! Archie’s dad takes him to the border, where he heads to Canada with his dog. And FP arrives, ready to take Jug back. SOMEHOW he has an extra bike with him — how did he drive 2 motorcycles to Ohio? Also how did they both get to Ohio so quickly??
But, Jughead & FP are too late getting back into Riverdale — the quarantine has already begun.
What will happen next week??
Originally published at lizziekreitman.wordpress.com on December 14, 2018.